THE AWARDS

The Idea

The Watchstars Awards are international watch awards given out annually by an international committee of experts. Watchstars honors “the best watches of the world” in different categories. The Watchstars committee consists of the most experienced watch specialists around the world. The committee alone is allowed to nominate and vote for the winning watches: manufacturers are not permitted to submit watches. All watches, regardless of size, brand, or country of origin, will be eligible for the Watchstars Awards.

The Watchstars Awards are truly independent and are represented worldwide.

The Categories

Watches from all brands and all countries can participate in the Watchstars Awards. The awards are given in the five categories listed below.
All the categories comprise both men’s and women’s watches.

Classic Stars

Three-handed watches with no functions other than a date and/or power reserve indicator are included in this category. All watches in the Classic Stars category must have mechanical movements.
Only watches that were launched in 2017 are eligible.

Technical Stars

Watches with additional function(s) other than a date and/or power reserve indicator are included in this category.
All watches in the Technical Stars category must have mechanical movements.
Only watches that were launched in 2017 are eligible.

Design Stars

Watches in this category have interesting design features such as unusual case shapes or materials, specially crafted hands or dials, and the like.
The watches in the Design Stars category can have either mechanical or quartz movements. All watches are eligible regardless of when they were introduced.

Stars For A Lifetime

These watches are timeless classics whose design and/or technical features give them an appeal that will last for decades. They can have quartz or mechanical movements. All watches are eligible regardless of when they were introduced.

New Stars

These watches are newcomer watches, that have seen successful launches in a very competitive market with many established watch brands. The watches in the category New Stars category can have either mechanical or quartz movements. All watches are eligible regardless of when they were introduced.

The Rules

Voting procedure

The voting procedure takes place in two steps. The first step is the nomination procedure and the second step is the procedure for choosing the final winning watches:

1st step

Each jury member can nominate up to ten watches per category. The votes for each nominated watch are counted, resulting in the automatic selection of the watches. The 10 most frequently nominated watches are chosen for all categories. The top 10 watches in each category make it onto the shortlist.

2nd step

The final winners are chosen from the shortlists. No watch can win more that one award. Each brand can only win one award. The category Stars of a Lifetime is not affected by this rule.

Nomination

Each jury member can nominate up to ten watches per category by secret ballot.
Out of all the nominated watches, the 10 most frequently nominated watches per category are selected. These 10 watches per category make it onto the shortlist.

Shortlist

The final winners are chosen by secret ballot. Each category will have one winning watch. The watches on the shortlists are chosen by the jury members

Vote of the winners

The jury announces one final winner in each category. This watch is awarded the Watchstars Award in its category. In the case of a tie another secret ballot among the jury members will take place to vote for the winner between the competing watches. In case of another tie third ballot will take place. In this case the vote of the President counts double.

In the categories Classic Stars, Technical Stars, Design Stars and New Stars, each brand and each watch may win only one award. If two or more watches of the same brand are selected as winners, the one with the highest score in its category wins. The other watch/watches of the same brand are replaced by the watches following next in the high score ranking.
The category Stars of a Lifetime is not affected by this rule.

All stages of the voting procedure are supervised by an independent notary. This person counts the votes and verifies the results.

After the nomination period is finished and the nominated watches are registered, they will be posted on the Watchstars website. The public is able to view all the nominated watches.

After the official announcement of the final winners, they are also posted on the Watchstars website.

Award/prize

The committee of the Watchstars awards the following prizes:

Classic Stars Award:
The prize is awarded to the best watch in the category Classic Stars.

Technical Stars Award:
The prize is awarded to the best watch in the category Technical Stars.

Design Stars Award:
The prize is awarded to the best watch in the category Design Stars.

Stars for a Lifetime Award:
The prize is awarded to the best watch in the category Stars for a Lifetime. If the same watch is awarded the Stars of a Lifetime Award three times in a row, this watch will enter the Watchstars Hall of Fame. This special watch is out of competition for all upcoming votes in the following years and can be neither nominated nor voted for.

New Stars Award:
The prize is awarded to the best newcomer watch in the category New Stars.

Annual voting

The Watchstars Awards are held annually. The results will be officially announced at the prize-giving ceremony.

The Event

The winners of the Watchstars Award are officially announced during the prize-giving ceremony, when they receive the award.

The prize-giving ceremony of the international Watchstars Award 2017/2018 will take place:

To be announced

The Partners

Many thanks to our global partners for support:

Become a partner

If you are interested in becoming a Watchstars partner, please contact: